The commonly assigned U.S. application Ser. No. 177,845 filed Aug. 14, 1980, now abandoned, and Ser. No. 292,791 filed Aug. 14, 1981 related to steroids. Belgian patent 701,968 of 1968 describes alkaloids extracted from the leaves of plants, some of which are 3.alpha.-amino pregn-5-ene which are described as having antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral properties. The antibacterial character of some compounds was demonstrated in vitro experiments.